


Practicality

by CatWingsAthena



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016), Wunderkind (MacGyver TV 2016 Fanfiction)
Genre: Episode: s02e19 Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle, Gen, Missing Scene, wunderkind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:28:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21957391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatWingsAthena/pseuds/CatWingsAthena
Summary: After they get back from Lima, Mac and Jack talk about what happened in the holding cell. Because Mac wants to know that, if something like that ever happens again, Jack will do whatever it takes to keep him safe--including going along with people's icky assumptions.Turns out, Jack is both smarter and more pragmatic than Mac has been giving him credit for.Also, cuddles, pizza, and Bruce Willis.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 57





	Practicality

**Author's Note:**

  * For [N1ghtshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Wunderkind-Season 2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18198776) by [JustAnotherWriter (N1ghtshade)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/pseuds/JustAnotherWriter). 



> Hey, everybody! This work is intended to be part of N1ghtshade's incredible Wunderkind universe. If you haven't read S2 chapter 20 "Benjamin Franklin + Grey Duffle"--or it's been a while--you should go do that before you read this. If you haven't read any of Wunderkind, well... I will definitely wait while you go lose a few days to a fic binge (or even if you have read it, and decide you need to again... we all know it's that good). Once you're done with that, if you'd like to come back and read this, I'd be honored. But seriously. Go. Read. Many thanks to N1ghtshade, to whom this work is dedicated, for letting me play in her sandbox. Merry Christmas, friend. I hope this makes a suitable present.
> 
> Please note that this work contains mentions of flashbacks, prison, "owning" another person, and talked-around past sexual assault.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Jack and Mac were sitting on Jack’s couch, eating pizza as  _ The Sixth Sense _ played on the TV, when Mac suddenly sat up.

Jack knew what was up a split second after Mac did.

Although the couch was a lot more comfortable than the hard wooden bench had been, the way they’d been sitting--Mac leaning into Jack, Jack’s arm, which had been on the back of the couch, skimming Mac’s shoulders--mirrored how they’d been sitting in the holding cell in Lima.

Before everything had gone completely to hell.

Mac didn’t seem to be having a flashback, though. He seemed to be… thinking. Hovering on the brink of saying something.

Whatever it was, Jack didn’t interrupt. He put the movie on pause, sat and waited for Mac to get his thoughts in order.

“Jack,” said Mac, after a moment, “I’m going to say something, and… you’re not gonna like it. But I’m gonna ask you to not say anything until I’m done talking. Just… hear me out, okay?”

Jack nodded. “Okay.” Mac was making him distinctly nervous, but he didn’t figure that saying so was likely to be helpful.

“When… when we were in Lima, in the holding cell… if something like that ever happens again, which, in our line of work, it might… I mean, if we end up in a holding cell or something together, with… other people… they’re gonna… assume things. About me. About you.” Mac broke off, holding up a hand to indicate he wasn’t done talking. “Basically, they’re gonna assume what the men in Lima did. That you… own me. And… if that ever happens… I  _ need _ you to roll with it. I know, I know, you hate that idea. But… it’s entirely possible that one day we’ll end up in a situation where it’s the only way you can protect me. And I need to know that, if you ever had to do that, you could.” Mac looked at Jack. “Could you?”

“C’mon,” said Jack. “I know you got that eclectic memory or whatever--”

“--It’s  _ eidetic _ memory, and no, I don’t, my memory’s just--”

“Way better than any human being’s has any right to be. So I know you remember what I said to you on the jet home from Lima.”

“You said a lot of things.”

“The  _ relevant _ thing.”

Mac took a breath. “You said… you said you’d do whatever it takes to keep me safe.”

“That’s right, I did.”

Mac sighed. “It’s just… I  _ know _ you. And… you’re really stubborn, and you don’t like to compromise what you think is right. And that can be a good thing. But… the whole time we were in there, I was thinking,  _ Jack can’t know what they’re thinking, because if he does, he’ll deny it, and then they’ll think I’m fair game. _ And… I know you meant well, but I’d feel better if--”

“What makes you think I didn’t know?”

Much as Jack hated the context, the look on the kid’s face at that was  _ priceless. _ His eyes opened wide, and he blinked a few times. “What… I mean, I assumed you’d have shut them down if you knew.”

“Use that eclectic memory again,” said Jack, ignoring Mac’s slight eyeroll at his deliberate word fumble. “Did I, at any point while we were in that holding cell, say or do  _ anything _ to indicate that I wasn’t playing along?”

Mac thought for a moment. “No.”

“Now, I’ll admit that throwing the first punch was a dumb move, on my part, and I’m sorry about that, because it got you hurt and that’s on me. I should’ve tried to handle the situation without escalating for longer. But I knew exactly what was happening, had from the beginning, and I wasn’t about to risk your safety just for my comfort by telling them they’d read things wrong.”

Mac nodded, seemingly turning that over in his head. “Wasn’t your fault,” he finally said.

Jack swallowed down the protestations that rose in his throat. Listening to his self-reproach wasn’t what Mac needed. Instead, he nodded. “I will always, always do  _ anything _ I can to protect you. Even if it makes me, personally, uncomfortable.”

A look came over Mac’s face, a cross between pain and curiosity, and Jack hoped he wasn’t thinking of what Jack thought he was thinking of. That hope was dashed when Mac said, softly, “I think I just figured out how you managed to talk to me alone. In Bishop.” He paused. “You told another guard you wanted some alone time with me, didn’t you?”

“Kiddo, I’m--”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” Mac looked Jack in the eye, that same curiosity brightly visible. “You were willing to do that for me? Even then?”

“Of course. But honestly? I’d’ve done that for any agent I was in with who was in your place. I mean… it had to be done.”

Mac nodded, looking at Jack appraisingly. “I’m glad I keep learning things about you.”

“Well, I definitely keep learning things about you. Just the other day I learned that you can get past a sound lock with wineglasses.”

“That’s not learning something about me, that’s learning something about the resonant properties of glass.”

“I also learned that you’re the sort who’ll use a guy’s expensive wine for your wineglass instruments out of spite when there’s perfectly good water in the sink.”

Mac smiled. “Only if he’s nasty enough.”

Jack smiled back. “Mind if I unpause the movie now?”

“Go for it.”

After a moment, Jack found Mac snuggling into his side.

Cautiously, he put his arm around Mac’s shoulder. There was no reaction besides a slight squirm as Mac got comfortable.

Together, they drifted off as the movie played, safe for the moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I hope you liked this! If you did, please let me know below!


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